This invention pertains to the art of locking structures and more particularly to locking structures for devices which have an operating member rotatable between a pair of extreme positions.
The invention is particularly applicable to valves and the like and will be described with particular reference to ball valves; however, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention has broader applications and is equally applicable to other structures and environments.
Locking structures for valves and the like are deemed desirable in many applications and environments where, for example, the valve is hidden from view or located in a remote area where it cannot be constantly checked by operating personnel. Thus, it is oftentimes desired to open or close a valve and have subsequent assurance that the valve will remain in that condition and not be either inadvertently or intentionally altered from the desired condition. Locking devices, while deemed only desirable in some circumstances, are considered necessary and highly advisable in other circumstances. For example, in some circumstances or applications, the nature of the liquid or fluid flowing through a system could cause damage to the system or surrounding environment if a valve within the system was opened or closed at the wrong time.
Locking devices particularly applicable to valves and the like are known in the art. However, most of these prior devices have not been universally acceptable because of their overall complexity with resultant overall difficulty of manufacture. In addition, and because of the nature of the design of such prior locking structures, their costs when utilizing them on a substantial number of individual valves or the like, oftentimes became prohibitive. Further, many prior locking structure designs were cumbersome and presented difficulties when attempting to incorporate them into actual use.
Accordingly, it has been desired to develop a locking structure for valves or the like which is simple in design, easy and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to adopt to practical application and which is readily adaptable for use in any number of applications and/or environments. The present invention contemplates a new and improved locking structure which is deemed to successfully meet these requirements and overcome all of the above referred to problems and others normally associated with prior locking structures.